Automatically-operated piano.



A. G. GULBRANSEN.

AUTOMATICALLY OPERATED PIANO.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 3, 1910.

W in 9v A. GULBRANSEN.

AUTOMATICALLY OPERATED PIANO.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 3. 1910.

1,150,861 v Patented Aug. 24, 1915.

2 SHEETSSHEET 2.

. 1 Gu lbransan mega COLUMBIA PLANOORAPH (10.. WASHINGTON. D. c.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

AXEL G. GULBRANSEN, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGN'OE '10 GULBRANSEN-DICKINSON COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

AUTOMATICALLY-OPERATED PIANO.

AppIication filed May 3, 1910.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, AXEL G. GULBRANsEN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Automatically-Operated Pianos, of which the following is a full, clear, concise, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification.

My invention relates to automatically operated pianos and is directed toward improved means for supporting the automatic action mechanism within the casing of an ordinary piano so that it may be properly associated with the piano action proper for the purposes of operating the keys thereof precisely as if they were operated manually in the usual manner.

It is well known that in automatic piano actions which are operated pneumatically, a roller box is provided which is disposed in front of and above the hammers, and which is in alinement with an opening in the upper front panel of the piano casing. This is the box which contains the tracker board and which contains the means for passing a music strip or sheet from one roll, over the tracker board, to another roll. I find it particularly convenient to mount the motor, usually an air motor, which is provided for operating the roll mechanism, upon this roller box, and it is the specific object of my invention to provide means for properly mounting and adjusting this roller box and the motor so conveniently carried thereby.

It is, of course, well known in the art that different makes of pianos differ slightly in proportions, and it is therefore a further ob ject of my invention to provide supporting means which will, so far as possible, be universal, in order that the automatic system with wiich my invention is associated may be applicable to any piano without enlarging its inclosing case.

My invention is illustrated'in the accompanying drawings in which Figure 1 is a front elevational view of the piano with the upper front panel and the keyboard cover removed; Fig. 2 is a fragmentary end view of the parts with which my invention is particularly concerned; Fig. 3 is a view, on an enlarged scale, of one of the supporting elements of my structure;

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 24:, 1915.

Serial No. 559,124.

Fig. 4 is a view of another of the supporting elements of my structure, this illustration being a fragmentary section on the line l-1 of Fig.1; and Fig. 5 is a detail view showmg a rod connection which will be described. Like reference numerals are applied to the same parts throughout the various figures.

The piano casing is shown at 6, the keyboard being indicated at 7. Those parts with which my invention is not concerned have been omitted for the purpose of clearness in illustration. The music roll box is shown at 8 and the air motor at 9, as secured upon a bracket 10, which, in turn, is secured to the box 8 by means of screws 11, 11. Vithin the box 8 the tracker board 12 is mounted and upon each side of this tracker board a roller 13 is mounted between which rollers the music sheet let passes, as is well known in the art. The rollers 13, 13 are connected with the rotating element of the air motor 9 by way of suitable clutch and gear mechanism 15 whereby either one or the other of the rolls may be rotated to operate the music sheet in the desired manner.

invention is not concerned with the particular construction for securing the results just pointed out, and it will, therefore, be unnecessary to go into this matter in detail. Suflice it to say that the motor is operated by a current of air which is drawn through air conductors 16, 16 by means of suitable bellows mechanism operated by the pedals 17, 17, this air current being controlled at a valve 18 which is connected by suitable rod and lever mechanism 19, 20, with a hand piece at the front of the piano. The lever mechanism is connected, by way of a rod 21, with indicator mechanism 22 in the roller box whereby the position of the valve 18 may always be known. The lever mechanism 20 is supported in any suitable manner, for instance, by means of the bracket 23 secured to the piano case. The tracker board 12 is connected by means of a series of tubes 24, 24, with the channel board 25 upon which are mounted the various pneumatics which are directly associated with the abstracts of the piano action. It will be understood that the piano proper is of any ordinary and well known construction, and the parts which have just been described are merely inserted therein and properly connected with. the piano action.

The back board of the piano, upon which the strings are mounted, is indicated at 26, and is held in the piano casing by means of suitable bolts 27, 27. The bed of the piano, which is below the keyboard, is indicated at 28 and between this bed and the back board 26 there are mounted the supporting brackets 29, 29, of which there are usually three or four, which together with the back-board constitutes a general structural framework. One end of each of these brackets is serrated at 30 so that it can be driven into the bed 28, as indicated in the drawings, while the other'end is bifurcated, as shown at 31, for the reception of a bolt 32 which is effective in securing the other end of the bracket to the back board, as clearly illustrated. Extending across and secured upon the brackets 29, 29, are various rails and other parts for the proper mounting of the hammers and the associated mechanisms. For instance, one of these rails is indicated at 33. The movable hammer rest rail, upon which the hammers rest and which is moved by manipulating one of the pedals 34, 34, to moderate the tone, is indicated at 35. As clearly shown in Figs. 1 and 2, a bar 35 extends across two of the brackets 29, 29, being secured in place by means of suitable screws 36, 36. This bar is provided with two properly disposed openings 37 one being shown in Fig. 4, and through each of these openings extends a rod 38 which is screw-threaded for the reception of a nut 39 on each side of the bar 35. It is apparent that by this construction the rod 38 may be moved forward or back so that any desired adjustment may be secured for purposes which will presently appear. The forward end of this rod 38 is provided with the flattened head 40 to which is pivoted, by means of a suitable bolt 41, an upwardly extending bar 42. These upwardly extending bars are secured to the box 8 by means of screws 43, 43, and, as is evident, constitute an effective support ing arrangement for the box and the parts carried thereby. It is clear that the box is free to swing forwardly on the pivots 41, 41, and in order that it may be rigidly held and adjustable relative to the back board 26 of the piano, the arrangement shown in detail in Fig. 3 is provided. As there shown, and as also shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the back board has secured thereto, by means of screws 44, 44, two brackets 45, 45, which are L shaped so that the forwardly extending portions thereof may receive the flattened heads 46, 46 of rods 47, 47, pivotal connection being obtained by means of the bolts 48, 48. Each of these rods 47 carry an L shaped bracket 49 which has an opening in the downwardly extending arm thereof through which the rod passes. The rod is screw-threaded, as indicated at 50, for the reception of the nut 51 on each side of the bracket 49. By this arrangement it is clear that the bracket 49 may be moved forward or back relative to the pivot 48 to any desired extent within reasonable limits. Secured to the side of the roller box 8 is a bracket 52 which is L shaped and has the horizontal arm thereof extending sidewise from the box. This horizontal portion of the bracket 52 has an opening near its end which is screw-threaded for the reception of a winged thumb screw 53, which, passing through an opening 54 near the end of the horizontal arm of the bracket 49, is arranged to secure rigid mechanical connection. This completes connection between the roller box and the back board 26 and it is clear that the elements 50 and 51 provide means whereby the thumb screw may be adjusted to any distance, within reasonable limits, from the bracket 45. The same arrangement as that just described may be provided on the other side of the box 8, but it is clear that the bracket 10 which carries the air motor 9 really fulfils the function of the bracket 52 and the winged nut 53 may, therefore, screw directly into the bracket 10. This is merely a matter of convenience. It is clear that with ust these four connections which have been described, the box may be effectively supported and that, if it is desired to gain access to any of the parts of the piano at the rear of the box, for instance, for the purposes of tuning, the winged clamping screws 53, may be removed and the entire roller box and the motor carried thereby may be swung forwardly in an obvious manner. It is evident, however, that other connections are necessary than those which are shown in the drawings. Thus the air conductor connection is indicated at 16. As to this, however, disconnection is a. very simple matter, since the conductor 16 is usually merely a rubber tube and may easily be removed from the boss 55 on the valve part 18 when disconnection is required. There is further connection in the way of the valve and indicator operating mechanism, that is, the rods 19 and 21. In order that these parts may be separated as readily as possible, the arrangement shown in detail in Fig. is employed. As there shown, the rod comprises two parts, one of which has a pivot member 56 extending through an opening in the other. A leaf spring 57 is secured to one of the parts of the rod and, having a suitable opening, passes over the pivot 56 so as to hold the two flattened ends of the rods together, as

clearly indicated in the drawing. Any readily detachable connection may be provided, however, but some should be provided in order that the roller box and the parts carried thereby may be swung forwardly to any desired extent after the brackets 49, 49 have been released from the brackets 52 and 10. It is clear that the screw-threaded rods and the nuts provided therefor afford means for moving the entire roller box and the parts carried thereby forward or back to secure proper adjustment both at the top and at the bottom of the supporting arrangement. And it is this feature of adjustability which is very effective in making an automatic system universally applicable.

I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. In an automatically operated piano, in combination, a framework, a roller box, hinges connecting said box to said framework, means for adjusting the axis of the hinges, and means for securing the free end of said roller box to said framework.

2. In an automatically operated piano, in combination, a framework, a roller box, hinges connecting said box to said frame work, means for adjusting the axis of the hinges and means for adjustably and detachably securing the free end of said roller box to said framework.

3. In an automatically operated piano, a framework, two screw-threaded rods pass ing forwardly through openings in said framework, a nut on each side of said framework for each rod for securing it in any adjusted position, a roller box pivoted to the forward ends of said rods, and means for rigidly securing said box against movement about said pivots.

4. In an automatically operated piano, a framework, two screw-threaded rods passing forwardly through openings in said framework, a nut on each side of said framework for each rod for securing it in any adjusted position, a roller box pivoted to the forward ends of said rods, means for rigidly securing said box against movement about said pivots, and a motive device mounted on said box.

5. In an automatically operated piano, a frame-work, a roller box hinged to said framework, a bracket extending laterally from said roller box, and having a downwardly extending portion and an arm pivoted to said frame work and extending through an opening in the downwardly-extending portion of said bracket said arm being screw-threaded so as to receive nut on each side of said bracket.

6. In an automatically operated piano, a

framework, a roller box hinged to said framework, a laterally extending bracket detachably secured to said roller box, and having downwardly extending portion and an arm pivoted to said frame work and extending through an opening in the downwardly-extending portion of said bracket said arm being screw-threaded so as to receive a nut on each ide of said bracket.

7. In an automatically operated piano, a framework, a roller box, hinges connecting said box to said framework, means for adjusting the axis of the hinges, and an adjustable arm extending from said frame work and having detachable connection with said roller box.

8. In an automatically operated piano, a framework, a roller box hinged to said framework, a screw-threaded rod pivoted to and extending from said frame'work, a bracket through which said rod passes,,a nut on said rod on each side of said bracket whereby the combined length of said rod and bracket may be adjusted, a bracket on said roller box, and a thumb nut for connecting said brackets to hold said box in rigid position.

9. In an automatically operated piano, in combination, a framework, a roller box hinged to said. framework, a sub -frame secured to said roller box, a motor secured on said sub-frame, a screw-threaded rod pivoted to and extending from the framework, means for securing the free end of said rod to said roller box at a distance from the hinges, a second screw-threaded rod pivoted to and extending from the framework, and means for securing said second rod to said sub-frame at a distance from the hinges.

10. In an automatically operated piano, in combination, a framework, a screwthreaded stud passing loosely through an opening in said framework, a nut on said stud on each side of said framework, pivot means at the end of said stud, a roller box connected with said pivot means, and means for securing the free end of said roller box to said framework.

In witness whereof, I hereunto subscribe my name this 80th day of April, 1910.

AXEL G. GULBRANSEN.

Witnesses:

ALBERT G. MCCALEB, JULIA C. LooMIs.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents. Washington, D. G. 

